1. Field of the Invention
The embodiments of the invention generally relate to vehicle-to-vehicle communication systems and, more specifically, to a vehicle-to-vehicle traffic queue information communication system, a traffic queue information communication device and a method for determining traffic queue information, including but not limited to, the position of a particular vehicle within a queue, the average speed of the queue and the estimated time for the particular vehicle to reach the front of the queue.
2. Description of the Related Art
When there is a traffic incident and a queue forms, there is currently no accurate, real-time, way for a driver of a particular vehicle to receive detailed information about how far that particular vehicle is from the front of the queue and how long it will take that particular vehicle to reach the front of the queue. For example, periodic radio or web-based traffic announcements provide information regarding the location of an accident and the estimated average time it will take vehicles to pass through the resulting traffic queue. Other systems can provide what is referred to as real-time traffic information. With such systems, traffic data is transmitted over a radio frequency and picked up by devices, such as global positioning systems (GPSs). The received traffic data indicates hot spots and can provide limited information regarding traffic congestion and average speed. However, neither traffic announcements, nor current real-time traffic information systems, can provide details regarding particular vehicles.